The Internship
by perfstebekah
Summary: Two chosen candidates are invited to spend a year in London working as interns. At the end of the year one of them will be awarded the job. Stefan and Elena both believe it will be easy to beat the competition but when they meet face to face they both realise it won't be as easy as they thought to resist each other.
1. Chapter 1

She was finally leaving. Having waited so long for this day to come, she still couldn't quite believe it was actually happening.

For the next year she would be spending her time as an intern, in London, competing for the job she had always wanted. She would be leaving her brother Jeremy behind, but she knew it was for the best. They would miss each other dearly, however they both were glad for each other and the new adventures they would both face being apart.

Elena needed a fresh start in a new city where she could be the girl she always dreamt of being. Instead of the one labeled as 'the girl who lost her parents'

She knew this was supposed to be a competition but there was no doubt in her mind that she wanted this the most. Elena now had the responsibility of supporting her and Jeremy and she was determined not to let him down. This was an opportunity she could not surpass. Whoever the competition for this job was going to be, they were irrelevant to her. She was going to get the place at the end of the year.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stefan couldn't believe how quickly January had come around. He sent through the application for the internship in August, that was a nearly six months ago, when it felt like two minutes. Everything had gone so fast, from the minute he found out he had been short listed and invited to London to compete for the job against the one other candidate, to now. It felt like he had only just taken it all in. Right before he was about to leave behind his family.

He felt guilty in saying that he wouldn't miss them, but it was true. His brother was selfish and arrogant and his parents only had time for the son that did exactly as they wanted - Damon.

Stefan knew he had only ever been a disappointment to his parents but he didn't know what else he could possibly do. Over the years he tried harder to please them but only seemed to displease them more each day. Eventually it stopped. He decided one day he would do something for himself, so as he boarded the plane to London, he revelled in the fact he was finally taking control of his life and steering it in the direction he wanted. He wasn't going to be a puppet anymore.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After reluctantly saying goodbye to Jeremy at the airport Elena felt lonely on the long plane journey to London. She had been told that the other intern would be flying from a different state so evidently a different flight to her. Elena thought it was an awful shame, she had wanted to eye up the competition.

From previous work experience back home she knew what the people in the business industry were like, completely ruthless. It wasn't about what you know it's who you know and honestly she didn't know anyone right now. Elena had no self confidence and she knew if she was going to survive this year, she would have to believe in herself - or at least pretend to.

She had heard from various sources that the other candidate came from a family that was extremely influential in the finance business and that their parents owned a long chain of successful businesses which they would soon hand over to their eldest son.

Elena already knew she was going to despise this man. A privileged upbringing never seemed to instil the best qualities into those kind of people. She could already imagine his rude and selfish attitude. It gave her confidence that she would take pleasure in winning the job he wanted, but obviously didn't need.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had been a couple of days since both Stefan and Elena arrived in London. Now on Monday morning they both arrived promptly to their new office after spending a few days becoming familiar with the city.

Elena walked into the boardroom where she could see the other intern was sitting in one of the many chairs awaiting the impending arrival of their new boss. Nervous wasn't even a word to begin to describe her feelings as she opened the door to the room and felt his eyes set on her immediately.

She took a deep breath and pretended he wasn't even there and walked with confidence to the seat opposite him across the table. As she sat down it took her a minute or so to finally direct her gaze over to him after she had deliberately avoided making eye contact as of yet.

Elena looked up at the man sitting across from her and stuck out her hand for him to shake. "Elena" she said briefly introducing herself, she believed that was all that was needed. "Stefan" he said taking her hand and shaking it, whilst wearing an unbelievably smug grin on his face which made her hate him already.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stefan admired the woman sat before him. Boy was he glad he had come on this trip now, this girl was hot and surely couldn't say no.

Now it would be even easier to destroy the competition, he would only have to sleep with her a couple of times before persuading her to go home and look elsewhere for a job. This would be easy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You don't have to look so miserable you know" Elena heard from across the table. Why could he not be content with sitting in silence waiting for their boss? And why on earth was he being so rude to someone he just met. She decided to ignore him, it was definitely for the best.

"You know I'm sure me and you could have a lot of fun this year." He added noticing that she was trying to ignore him.

Elena couldn't believe what she just heard. Actually coming from a guy like him she could. He was that type. "I don't think so, you really aren't my type." She countered sick of his arrogance towards her. She prayed that their boss would walk in any minute.

"Aww does someone have a boyfriend back at home they don't want to upset" he mocked, pleased with how easy it was to irritate her. The fact she got even hotter the angrier she got just fuelled the sarcasm he used.

"No I would never date a coworker, it's unprofessional, not that it's any of your business anyway but I guess you need to learn the rules of the workplace if you even want a chance at getting this job," she finished.

The board room door opened and their conversation was quickly cut off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The talk with their boss that morning lasted about an hour. They we're both briefed on what was expected of them throughout the duration of their stay. It was explained that at the end of the year one of them would be chosen for the job and the other would have to return home. This was a one time opportunity and they couldn't afford to mess anything up.

They both will be constantly judged and monitored to truly prove who is the best for the job.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They both rose from their seats and as the headed toward the door, Stefan, like the true gentleman he was, held it open for Elena - much to her disgust. Of course it made him happy, that and the fact he got the best view of her whilst she was walking away.

Both Stefan and Elena would be sharing an office, working together but at the same time competing. As their boss walked out of their new office after showing them where they would be working for the next year. Stefan leaned into Elena and whispered into her ear confidently.

"This is going to be the best year of your life"


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since Elena and Stefan had both starting working for the company. By now they had both realised how hard it was going to be to get this job at the end of the year.

Elena had begun to start doubting her own abilities. She knew she wasn't going to get everything perfect having only been working there one week, but she knew if she kept making slip ups that they would also question her suitability at the end of the year.

It didn't help that Stefan seemed to be doing everything perfectly. His sarcastic and flirty comments had begun to irritate Elena and he was loving the fact she got so frustrated. So when their boss seemed to constantly be praising him these comments got all the more annoying. It didn't help that she was missing Jeremy already. She hadn't realised how lonely living alone can be.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stefan was already enjoying his time in London and working for the company. Not only was everything around him new and exciting. He got to spend the best part of 8 hours of his day with Elena.

He constantly provoked her in their office and he could tell the tension between them was rising. She seemed so serious all the time, she was set on doing everything just perfectly, he could tell how much she wanted this job.

He knew it wouldn't be long before he had her in his bed and she would simply give up trying for this job after he had spent the night with her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stefan walked into their office and groaned "looks like we will be working late tonight" he stated as he placed a substantial pile of papers on their desk which they would have to go through before the end of the day.

"There is no way that we can get all of this done before five" he moaned, clearly he had no intention of hiding his true thoughts.

"Well maybe if you stopped whining about it and actually got on we might have a better chance. Anyway, if we aren't finished by five we will just have to stay late until it gets done." Elena replied

"Woah! I don't think so. I have plans tonight." Stefan practically barked at her

Offended that he wasn't prepared to stay and help her afterwards she started working on the large pile of papers they had been given, determined to get as much done as possible in the time they both had left at the office. She decided she would take the rest home that night. "You better get something done then, we've only got two hours before you're due to leave and I'm sure your plans are so important you couldn't possibly be late." She added sarcastically

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They had both sat and worked in silence since Elena had told him to work harder. He could tell that maybe he had been a little out of line earlier when he practically refused to work after hours. Of course he wasn't going to admit to it.

As five o'clock approached he thought he should stay and help her, although he knew he would've had a much better time at home, with the girl who would no doubt be waiting for him eagerly.

It wasn't as though he disliked Elena, it was almost the opposite. He loved watching her work, she was so organised and self sufficient, maybe she was going to be tougher competition that he thought.

Stefan had begun to think maybe his plan to get her into bed wasn't really working. She seemed to dislike him more than ever. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, she really wasn't supposed to take all of his comments seriously. He realised he had a lot of work to do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was five o'clock and Elena was fully aware of that. She was pretty sure she had a good four more hours of work to complete on her own and was awaiting the moment Stefan would get up and walk out so she would have the office to herself.

Elena didn't know why she was always so tense when she was around him, she just couldn't seem to relax.

Five minutes went past and Stefan still hadn't left. She didn't think he was going to stay so obviously believed he just lost track of the time - typical.

"It's five o'clock you know, you can leave now." She said without looking up from her papers she was working on. Honestly she couldn't wait for him to leave.

"Yeah umm I thought I might stay actually, it's probably for the best." He replied awkwardly.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, was this some sort of apology for being such an idiot earlier? Maybe this side of Stefan wasn't so bad after all. She still wasn't going to let him off lightly, she wanted him to feel guilty.

"I thought you had plans?" She replied. Of course earlier they were so important to him and now he didn't even care at all, why did he change his mind so easily?

"She'll go home eventually." He said with a huge grin on his face, indicating exactly why he was so keen to rush home.

Elena pulled a face of disgust at that comment. She really didn't want to know that Stefan had a girl waiting in his apartment to have sex with him. Who would do that?

Not only was she disgusted but she was also frustrated, with herself.

Why did the thought of Stefan with another girl make her jealous. They were nothing to each other yet the thought of him having sex with someone else made her wish that she was the one waiting for him at his apartment.

"Don't act like you haven't ever had sex for fun." He said casually, it was something everyone did and he was sure a girl like Elena would have no trouble having fun with another guy if she stopped being so uptight.

She froze. What was she supposed to say to that comment? The truth or a lie. It was too late because the pause she had taken had already given away her answer. No she hadn't ever had casual sex for fun. Ever.

He must've thought she was such a prude. She immediately hated herself for not being a better liar.

"Okay so I was wrong on that one." He replied "Trust me it's not such a bad thing, it's not really as good as it sounds." He added winking at her seductively

Relief washed over her, thank god he didn't think she was a prude. She prayed that this unbearable questioning would end now, it was beyond embarrassing.

"Just to be clear you have had sex right?" He said almost laughing, as if his question had the most obvious answer of which he wanted to reassure himself of.

"Yes!" She lied.

"Will you just give it a rest, stop asking me questions!" she yelled and stormed off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Staring into the mirror in the ladies bathrooms she knew she had to go back into that office and finish her work, even if she was pissed off at Stefan.

She looked at the girl staring back at her, wondering why she was so uptight when it came to guys. She was 22 and she had never had a boyfriend consequently never doing anything with a guy ever.

Now she had started lying about it to Stefan, surely he could tell already. She just wished she had told the truth. At least then he could've laughed at her and then moved on from the incident. Instead she lied, which is never a good idea.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She had been in the bathroom about ten more minutes when she heard footsteps approaching and opening the door. She knew right away it was Stefan, everyone else had gone home by now.

She was still angry at him for asking her so many questions, she didn't know why. It was the most stupid reason to be annoyed.

He walked over to wear she was standing in front of the mirror and stood behind her looking over her shoulder into the mirror so they locked eyes on each other.

His close presence hadn't gone unnoticed and Elena could feel his warm breath on her neck. "I'm sorry." He said sincerely, she really thought he meant it. Not that he even owed her an apology for asking a question.

What happened next took her by surprise. She felt his arms grab her around the waist and his lips move slowly against her neck, moving upwards towards her ear.

His teeth enclosed around her earlobe and just as he let go he whispered "please forgive me." Seductively, knowing she couldn't resist.

She felt his hands move slowly caressing the front of her body. "Yes." She replied, she wasn't sure why she was forgiving him so easily but when he asked like that, she really couldn't say no.

Slowly he turned her around pushing her back against the counter as his lips joined hers. Soft and gentle, quickly working up into a heated kiss. She felt him begin to stroke her thigh near the bottom of her skirt, right before he grabbed them both unexpectedly and lifted her up on top of the counter.

He was kissing her harder than before and she had no idea where this was going next. He was standing between her legs and as he kissed her she felt him press forward into her. Her thin underwear and tights provided no protection from the sensation and it caused her to cry out lightly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elena gasped when she heard Stefan call out her name. What had she just been fantasising about? How long had she been in the bathroom? It was all a dream.

"Elena will you hurry up and get on with the work." He asked impatiently

Clearly his apology had been a dream too. She quickly straightened out her blouse, tousled her hair and left the bathroom wishing she had been able to go home and sort herself out.

A few hours later they had finally got through the large stack of papers and could go home for the night, both of them were completely exhausted and rather hungry as it was now 8pm and neither had gotten chance to eat dinner.

"Look I'm sorry for making you mad earlier, let me make you dinner tonight as an apology." Stefan said sincerely.

Elena couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was this another dream? Was it a trick?

"Um I'm not sure, thanks but I think I'll go home." She replied, unsure of what else to say.

Stefan didn't know what to say, should he try to persuade her because she was being stubborn or should he just let her do what she wants. This girl really made him question himself constantly.

Elena saw he seemed visibly hurt. She felt bad knowing she was responsible for that. She could understand why he would feel that way, it was lonely being here in a new city living alone. Any company would be welcome so she wasn't quite sure why she was declining his offer. It couldn't hurt to have dinner with him surely?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Walking into Stefan's apartment held no surprises to her. As she had expected it was neat and elaborately furnished, it was evident he came from a well-off background.

She couldn't help feel slightly jealous, he had exactly what she wanted. He was successful already without the job. At the moment this was the life Elena could only dream of.

Elena hated to admit it but Stefan could cook, extremely well. That was definitely one thing that she wasn't so great at so it was nice to eat half decent food for once in a while.

It was only until she looked at the clock whilst sharing a drink on Stefan's couch that she realised how late it was. Of course he had only just got her a drink so it would be impolite to leave so soon.

Talking to Stefan out of the working environment she realised that he actually wasn't so bad. Slightly arrogant but he wasn't a bad guy, that gave her reassurance.

After talking for a little while longer Elena learned that Stefan also had a brother, she got the impression they weren't as close as herself and Jeremy are. In fact it seemed that Stefan was happy to be here alone, so why had he asked her here tonight?

She had so many questions but was it crossing a line to be so curious, after all she barely knew the man.

"Who was the girl that you said was here earlier?" She asked cautiously, trying to see if her question would get a bad reaction.

"Just some girl I met at a bar last week, I don't really know her but seriously it's been almost a month since I've had sex! I might even die if it doesn't happen soon." He added seriously.

Elena started to laugh, he was incredibly needy and she found it hilarious how self centred he was. It was only his next comment that stopped her laughter.

"We could have sex." He stated confidently

Elena struggled to swallow her drink, completely taken back by this bold statement. "You know like no strings attached or whatever?" He added, trying to elaborate on his first comment.

When Elena finally found the words to use she told him "like we don't even have to involve feelings?" She asked, completely unfamiliar with the feelings she possessed at that moment. She had never had sex, why was she even thinking of negotiating with Stefan on this, was she crazy?

"I guess it is kind of lonely being over here on my own." She stated, suddenly seeing all of the benefits this situation would have for her.

"So your saying yes?" He jumped in immediately, he couldn't believe it was this easy to convince her.

"I'm saying I'll think about it okay?" She said and with that she decided it was time to leave.

Stefan walked her to her car and when he went back up to his apartment he realised what a great evening he had with Elena. He felt bad that he was going to take advantage of her but this wasn't about feelings and she obviously didn't care for him either.

Maybe the next year won't be so lonely after all.

A/N: so thank you so much for the reviews already, I appreciate it so much. I know this story only has Stefan and Elena in at the moment but I am planning on adding in other minor characters to interact with and would really appreciate you opinions. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I will endeavour to update as soon as possible. Let me know what you thought on twitter nikolinaswesley


End file.
